LATCH TO THE CORE FASTENER
A latching system includes a hub with one or more openings defined in the hub. Each opening includes a latching feature to which a fastener is releasably coupled. The latching feature may be configured to couple to only a single fastener provided from one side of the hub. Alternately, the latching feature may be configured to couple to two fasteners, one from each side of the hub, at the same time. The fastener includes prongs that are configured to be sufficiently separated from one another, when a removal tool is inserted between them, to facilitate the release of the fastener from the latching feature and the removal of the fastener from the opening. A flange may be held in place between the hub and a portion of the coupled fastener.
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This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/722,944, entitled “Latch to the Core Fastener,” filed on Nov. 6, 2012, which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
This application is a continuation-in-part under 35 U.S.C. §120 of U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 13/432,479, entitled “Fastener,” filed on Mar. 28, 2012, which application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. §119(e) of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/468,461, entitled “Fastener,” filed on Mar. 28, 2011, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONIn many component manufacturing disciplines components are manufactured and used in a continuous strip rather than as loose pieces. To facilitate the handling of those continuous strips they are put onto reels. The reels consist of a center core or hub with a flange on both sides of the core or hub. These reels are typically assembled with the two flanges and central core or hub using bolts, screws, staples or glue. There are occasions where it would be advantageous to be able to advantageous to disassemble the reel for recycling or for reuse of the reel's flanges and/or core/hub or for conserving space when shipping empty reels.
What is needed, therefore, is a reel that can withstand the forces exerted on it during the manufacturing process as well as one that can be easily disassembled.
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONIn one embodiment of the present invention, a coupling system includes a hub having a first latch opening with a first latching feature disposed in the first latch opening and a first fastener disposed in the first latch opening and releasably coupled to the first latching feature. The first latching feature. The first latching feature in the first latch opening may be configured to couple with a single fastener from one side or to two fasteners inserted from opposite sides.
In another embodiment, a coupling system includes a hub having first and second latch openings with first and second latching features disposed, respectively, in the first and second latch openings. First and second fasteners are disposed, respectively, in the first and second latch openings and releasably coupled to the first and second latching features. The first fastener is positioned in the first latch opening from a first side of the hub and the second fastener is positioned in the second latch opening from a second side of the hub opposite the first side of the hub.
In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a coupling system includes a latch opening disposed in a hub with a first pair of latching features disposed in the latch opening. The first pair of latching features are arranged in a first virtual plane and a second pair of latching features are also disposed in the latch opening with the second pair of latching features arranged in a second virtual plane where the first and second virtual planes intersect.
Various aspects of at least one embodiment of the present invention are discussed below with reference to the accompanying figures. It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the drawings have not necessarily been drawn accurately or to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity or several physical components may be included in one functional block or element. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the drawings to indicate corresponding or analogous elements. For purposes of clarity, not every component may be labeled in every drawing. The figures are provided for the purposes of illustration and explanation and are not intended as a definition of the limits of the invention. In the figures:
This application is related to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/722,944, entitled “Latch to the Core Fastener,” filed on Nov. 6, 2012, and to U.S. Non-Provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/432,479, entitled “Fastener,” filed on Mar. 28, 2012, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61/468,461, entitled “Fastener,” filed on Mar. 28, 2011, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety for all purposes.
In the following detailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments of the present invention. It will be understood by those of ordinary skill in the art that these embodiments of the present invention may be practiced without some of these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, procedures, components and structures may not have been described in detail so as not to obscure the embodiments of the present invention.
Prior to explaining at least one embodiment of the present invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments or of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
It is appreciated that certain features of the invention, which are, for clarity, described in the context of separate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, various features of the invention, which are, for brevity, described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be provided separately or in any suitable sub-combination.
In one embodiment of the present invention, a parts reel 100, as shown in
The hub 104 includes a latch opening 112 extending therethrough with at least one latching feature 115 disposed within the latch opening 112. It should be noted, however, that in an alternate embodiment, the latch opening 112 need not extend all of the way through the hub 104. The upper and lower flanges 108a and 108b include at least one fastener opening 120 that is designed and located to be oriented coaxially with the latch opening 112 in the hub 104 as shown in
It should be noted, however, that in some instances, the reel 100 may include only one of the flanges 108a and 108b. Of course, there may be a plurality of latch openings 112 in the hub 104 with corresponding fastener openings 120 in the upper and lower flanges 108a and 108b to accept a corresponding fastener 124 in order to provide multiple points of connection.
Referring now to
In another embodiment of the present invention, the latches 117 are provided within the latch opening 112 of the hub 104 to allow for insertion of one fastener 124 per latch opening 112, i.e., a single-ended latch opening 112-S. Thus, as shown in
Advantageously, the single-ended latch opening 112-S may be used for reels that require a hub 104 that is thinner than a certain amount, i.e., one where the fasteners 124 would otherwise interfere with each other and, therefore, would limit how thin the core can be. By placing a fastener 124 in one opening 112-S from one side and a fastener 124 from the other side into a separate opening 112-S, the hub 104 can be made with, for example, only half the thickness of what would be needed to have two fasteners 124 inserted into a double-ended opening 112-D, i.e., one fastener 124 from each side. Of course, the thickness of the upper and/or lower flange 108a, 180b, would have to be taken into consideration.
Referring now to
As shown in
The cap 412 may include a cap index feature 420 such as the illustrated pointed portion in the cap 412. The cap index portion 420 allows for discerning a visual and/or tactical orientation of the fastener 124 to aid in aligning the fastener 124 to the latching features 115 in the opening 112 in the hub/core. As will be described in more detail below, the fastener 124 aligns with the latch 117 in the opening 112. To aid in alignment, the fastener 124 includes a surface to self-align the prongs if inserted with a slight misalignment. While it is not too difficult to pay attention to the orientation of the prongs 404a, 404b on the fastener 124 when inserting it, including the cap index portion 420 provides an easier and more efficient mechanism to do so. Thus, the cap index portion 420 allows an operator to more easily orient the fastener 124 without having to look at the prongs 404a, 404b before inserting it. As one of ordinary skill in the art knows, assembly time is part of the cost, so the cap index portion 420 can be used to reduce assembly time, errors and overall cost.
One of ordinary skill in the art will also understand that the cap index portion 420 implemented as a point on an otherwise round cap is just one example. It is considered that the cap index portion 420 could be a square tab, an arrow, a visual marking on the cap 412, a notch, a hole and any other like marking or physical differentiation from the other part of the cap 412.
Referring now to
It should be noted that the hub 104 could be made from a solid piece of material with the latch openings 112 provided therein. Generally, the hub 104 is the carrier for the latch openings 112 and the framework embodiment above is merely shown as one example. The hub material could be any material known to those of ordinary skill in the art.
Referring to
The latch 117 includes two portions disposed in a latch opening 112 of a hub 104, as shown in
Further, each of the latches 117 includes a lead portion 616 as that is the end from which the fastener 124 will first come into contact with the latch 117. Generally, each fastener 124 approaches along a direction identified by the large arrow E, as shown in
Referring now to
The placement of the latches 117 to provide a double-ended latch opening 112-D is shown in
Advantageously, the foregoing embodiments allow for using cores of any thickness with a single size fastener 124. As described above, when the core 104 is below a certain thickness, the singled-ended openings 112-S may be used as shown in
Referring now to
In another embodiment of the present invention, a transverse latch arrangement 950, as shown in
The transverse aspect of the arrangement 950 can be seen in
The connection of the fasteners 124 to the transverse latch 950, as shown in
As shown in
The combination of a precision opening in the core that allows for a close slide fit of the fastener, as different from a “press-fit” which generally requires some resistance to insertion. The close fit of the cylindrical portions of the fasteners to the matching cylindrical opening in the hub/core and holes in the hub/core provides a robust reel assembly. Specifically, the connection of the fastener 124 within the opening 112 by operation of the close slide fit into the opening of the core/hub, and close fit holes for the fasteners in the flange, prevents the flange from having excessive freedom of movement in any direction of the plane of the flange.
Having thus described several features of at least one embodiment of the present invention, it is to be appreciated that various alterations, modifications, and improvements will readily occur to those skilled in the art. Such alterations, modifications, and improvements are intended to be part of this disclosure and are intended to be within the scope of the invention. Accordingly, the foregoing description and drawings are by way of example only, and the scope of the invention should be determined from proper construction of the appended claims, and their equivalents.
Claims
1. A coupling system, comprising:
- a hub having a first latch opening disposed therein;
- a first latching feature disposed in the first latch opening; and
- a first fastener disposed in the first latch opening and releasably coupled to the first latching feature.
2. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein:
- the first latching feature is configured to releasably couple only to one fastener from one side of the first latch opening.
3. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein:
- the first latching feature is configured to couple to two fasteners at a same time, from opposite ends of the first latch opening.
4. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein:
- the first fastener comprises opposing prongs configured to releasably couple to the first latching feature within the first latch opening.
5. The coupling system of claim 3, further comprising:
- a second fastener disposed in the first latch opening and releasably coupled to the first latching feature.
6. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein the hub further comprises a second latch opening disposed therein, the system further comprising:
- a second latching feature disposed in the second latch opening; and
- a second fastener disposed in the second latch opening and releasably coupled to the second latching feature.
7. The coupling system of claim 1, further comprising:
- a first flange disposed adjacent the hub,
- wherein a portion of the first flange is disposed between a portion of the first fastener and the hub.
8. The coupling system of claim 7, wherein the first flange comprises a first fastener opening defined therein, the first fastener opening coaxially aligned with the first latch opening, and
- wherein the first fastener extends through the first fastener opening into the first latch opening.
9. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein the first latch opening extends through the hub and has a first opening on a first surface of the hub and a second opening on an opposing second surface of the hub.
10. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein the first latch opening does not extend through the hub and only has an opening on a first surface of the hub.
11. A coupling system, comprising:
- a hub having first and second latch openings disposed therein;
- first and second latching features disposed, respectively, in the first and second latch openings; and
- first and second fasteners disposed, respectively, in the first and second latch openings and releasably coupled to the first and second latching features,
- wherein the first fastener is positioned in the first latch opening from a first side of the hub, and
- wherein the second fastener is positioned in the second latch opening from a second side of the hub opposite the first side of the hub.
12. The coupling system of claim 11, wherein:
- each of the first and second latching features is configured to releasably couple only to one fastener from one side of the first latch opening.
13. The coupling system of claim 11, wherein:
- the hub comprises radially extending spokes, and
- wherein the first and second latch openings are attached to a same spoke of the hub.
14. The coupling system of claim 11, wherein the first and second latching features are oriented in a predetermined manner with respect to a radius of the hub.
15. The coupling system of claim 14, wherein each of the first and second fasteners comprises an index portion.
16. The coupling system of claim 1, further comprising:
- a second latch opening disposed in the hub; and
- a second latching feature disposed in the second latch opening,
- wherein the first and second latching features are oriented in a predetermined manner with respect to a radius of the hub.
17. The coupling system of claim 16, wherein each of the first and second fasteners comprises an index portion.
18. A coupling system, comprising:
- a hub having a first latch opening disposed therein;
- a first pair of latching features disposed in the first latch opening, the first pair of latching features arranged in a first virtual plane; and
- a second pair of latching features disposed in the first latch opening, the second pair of latching features arranged in a second virtual plane;
- wherein the first and second virtual planes intersect.
19. The coupling system of claim 18, wherein the first and second virtual planes are perpendicular to one another.
20. The coupling system of claim 18, wherein an angle between the first and second virtual planes is less than 90°
21. The coupling system of claim 18, further comprising:
- a first fastener releasably coupled to the first pair of latching features.
22. The coupling system of claim 18, wherein the first pair of latching features is configured to releasably couple only to one fastener from one side of the first latch opening.
23. The coupling system of claim 21, further comprising:
- a second fastener releasably coupled to the second pair of latching features.
24. A coupling system kit, comprising:
- a hub having a first latch opening disposed therein;
- a first pair of latching features disposed in the first latch opening, the first pair of latching features arranged in a first virtual plane;
- a second pair of latching features disposed in the first latch opening, the second pair of latching features arranged in a second virtual plane;
- a first fastener configured to removably couple to one of the first and second pairs of latching features; and
- a flange configured to be positioned between the first fastener and the hub.
25. The coupling system of claim 4, wherein:
- each of the opposing prongs comprises a slanted surface such that a diameter across the distal portions of the prongs is less than a diameter of the first latch opening.
26. The coupling system of claim 1, wherein the first latch opening is sized to provide a close slide fit to a base portion of the fastener.
27. The coupling system of claim 11, wherein:
- each of the first and second fasteners comprises a set of opposing prongs configured to releasably engage the first and second latching features, respectively.
28. The coupling system of claim 27, wherein:
- each of the opposing prongs comprises a slanted surface such that a diameter across the distal portions of the set of opposing prongs is less than a diameter of the respective latch opening.
29. The coupling system of claim 11, wherein each latch opening is sized to provide a close slide fit to a base portion of the respective fastener.
30. The coupling system of claim 21, wherein:
- the first fastener comprises a set of opposing prongs configured to releasably engage the first pair of latching features.
31. The coupling system of claim 30, wherein:
- each of the opposing prongs comprises a slanted surface such that a diameter across the distal portions of the prongs is less than a diameter of the first latch opening.
32. The coupling system of claim 21, wherein the first latch opening is sized to provide a close slide fit to a base portion of the fastener.
33. The coupling system of claim 4, wherein:
- the opposing prongs of the first fastener are configured to be sufficiently separated from one another, when a removal tool is inserted between them, to facilitate the release of the first fastener from the first latching feature and the removal of the first fastener from the first latch opening.
34. The coupling system of claim 27, wherein:
- the opposing prongs of each of the first and second fasteners are configured to be sufficiently separated from one another, when a removal tool is inserted between them, to facilitate the release of the respective fastener from the respective latching feature and the removal of the respective fastener from the respective latch opening.
35. The coupling system of claim 30, wherein:
- the opposing prongs of each of the first and second fasteners are configured to be sufficiently separated from one another, when a removal tool is inserted between them, to facilitate the release of the respective fastener from the respective latching feature and the removal of the respective fastener from the respective latch opening.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 6, 2013
Publication Date: May 1, 2014
Patent Grant number: 9140280
Applicant: Interplex Nascal, Inc. (Tustin, CA)
Inventor: James R. Martellotti (Tustin, CA)
Application Number: 14/073,330
International Classification: F16B 19/00 (20060101);